WASHINGTON (AFP) — A federal appeals court on Monday threw out a lawsuit challenging the legality of the US military's ban on homosexuals, an issue with so many ups and downs it will likely end up in the US Supreme Court.
The federal court of appeals for the first circuit in Boston, Massachusetts, ruled that "special deference" must be made to Congress in dealing with federal statutes regulating military affairs, and dismissed the case.
The decision affirmed an earlier decision in the case brought in Boston by 12 men and women which said that the military's ban violated their right to freedom of expression and was an attack on their private lives.
The military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy tolerates homosexuals in the US military as long as they hide their sexual orientation. Some 12,000 service members have been fired or forced to resign since the rule was adopted by Congress in 1993.
But on May 21, a federal appeals court in San Francisco had upheld a ruling in a similar case in favor of a reservist nurse forced into early retirement after 20 years of service.
Decorated Air Force nurse, Major Margaret Witt, filed a lawsuit challenging the military's move to force her out because her superiors discovered her long-term relationship with a civilian woman.
Monday's ruling throwing out the Boston case said the challenges "are all aimed at a federal statute regulating military affairs.
"Although the wisdom behind the statute at issue here may be questioned by some, in light of the special deference we grant Congressional decision-making in this area we conclude that the challenges must be dismissed."
Court observers said that given the disagreements between the two appeals courts, the issue will very likely end up in the Supreme Court in the next few months.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
